NASA’s Deputy Administrator, Pam Melroy, confirmed near unanimous support for the agency’s “continuous heartbeat” strategy, which aims to maintain a continuous human presence in low Earth orbit (LEO) during the transition from the International Space Station (ISS) to commercial space stations.

The strategy, finalized in December, was favored by international partners and the industry, despite some concerns from commercial companies about NASA’s pace in transitioning to commercial stations.

NASA will now use this strategy to guide the development of phase two of the Commercial LEO Development program, aiming to have at least one commercial station operational by 2030, Space News has reported.

Written by B.C. Begley